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Brexit: Ministers may have broken rules by not publishing legal advice - Speaker Brexit legal advice: MPs to vote on contempt of Parliament motion
(about 5 hours later)
The UK government may have broken Parliamentary rules by not publishing Brexit legal advice, the Commons Speaker has said. MPs will vote later on whether the UK government broke Parliament's rules by failing to publish the legal advice it received about the Brexit deal.
John Bercow said there was an "arguable case" that a contempt of Parliament has been committed. Opposition parties say that by limiting information to an overview, ministers ignored a binding Commons vote demanding they release the full advice.
It means MPs will debate and vote on the issue on Tuesday. No 10 insists publishing confidential advice is not in the national interest.
This is likely to delay the start of the debate on Theresa May's Brexit deal. It comes ahead of five days of debate on the EU withdrawal agreement, with MPs voting on the PM's deal next week.
Mr Bercow was responding to a call from senior MPs in six parties - Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the Democratic Unionist Party, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party - for contempt proceedings to be launched. The debate is scheduled to last eight hours a day, with Theresa May expected to say the UK is on course for a "better future outside the EU" and that her deal "takes back control of our borders, laws and money".
They say the government has gone back on a binding vote to release "any legal advice in full". However, the prime minister faces opposition from MPs on all sides - including both the Leave and Remain wings of her own party - who argue that better deals are available, or that the public should have the final say in a referendum.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox - the government's chief legal adviser - earlier published an overview of his legal advice on Theresa May's Brexit deal, and answered MPs' questions on it. Many believe her deal is flawed because of a "backstop" that could keep the UK tied to EU customs rules in the event no future trade deal can be agreed. Some believe only the full legal advice will shed light on this.
He argued that it would not be "in the national interest" to publish his advice in full, as it would break a longstanding convention that law officers' advice to ministers is confidential. Labour's shadow Brexit secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, said: "This is not about party politics.
He insisted there was no cover-up, telling MPs: "There is nothing to see here." "It's about parliamentary democracy and guaranteeing that MPs have the information they need to know - precisely what the government has negotiated with the European Union."
The MPs are also demanding the immediate publication of his final and full legal advice. Sir Keir signed a motion demanding immediate publication of the full and final advice, along with senior MPs from the Lib Dems, the SNP, the Democratic Unionist Party, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party.
MPs are due to vote on Mrs May's deal on 11 December. "Even at this 11th hour, I would urge ministers to step back from the brink and to not go down in history as the first government to be found in contempt," he added
Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: "This is not about party politics. Commons Speaker John Bercow said late on Monday there was an "arguable case" that a contempt of Parliament had been committed.
"It's about parliamentary democracy and guaranteeing that MPs have the information they need to know - precisely what the government has negotiated with the European Union. However, the government then tabled an amendment to have the issue referred to MPs on the Privileges Committee to investigate whether its response fulfils all its obligations, taking into account any relevant past cases.
"Even at this 11th hour, I would urge ministers to step back from the brink and to not go down in history as the first government to be found in contempt." On Monday, Attorney General Geoffrey Cox - the government's chief legal adviser - published an overview of his legal advice on Theresa May's Brexit deal, and answered MPs' questions on it.
However, the government has tabled an amendment to have the issue referred to MPs on the Privileges Committee to investigate whether its response fulfils all its obligations, taking into account any relevant past cases. He said publication in full would break a longstanding convention keeping legal advice to ministers confidential but insisted there was no cover-up, telling MPs: "There is nothing to see here."
BBC Newsnight's political editor Nick Watt said government sources had told him they would not be publishing the legal advice, arguing that to do so would be unprecedented. Mr Cox accepted the backstop - designed to protect Northern Ireland's peace process by preventing the return of customs posts and checkpoints on the Irish border - would leave the UK "indefinitely committed" to EU customs rules if Brexit trade talks broke down.
Analysis The arrangement, which would apply to the entire UK, is supposed to be temporary. However, neither party could withdraw from it without the other's consent.
By Sean Curran, Parliamentary Correspondent Mr Cox accepted that signing up to it was a "calculated risk" but added: "I do not believe we will be trapped in it permanently."
The Parliamentary wrangle over the legal advice given to ministers about the Brexit deal is now coming to a head. 'Unwelcome distraction'
The Speaker's decision to give the go-ahead for a contempt motion means that a debate over whether or not senior ministers flouted Parliamentary rules will now be the curtain raiser to five days of debate on Theresa May's withdrawal agreement. BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said any defeat over the legal advice would be likely to come as "an unwelcome distraction rather than a disaster" for the PM.
It also means that debate can't start until the Commons has taken a decision on the contempt motion. "While ultimately a parliamentary committee could decide to reprimand or suspend ministers, it's highly likely no sanction would be applied before next week's crucial vote on the Brexit deal," he said.
The vote on that motion could be an indication of what will happen in a week's time, when the crunch vote on Brexit is due to take place. MPs will debate different aspects of the agreement, signed last month with EU leaders after months of wrangling, before voting on 11 December,
Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake, who campaigns for a further EU referendum, said: "Parliament is finally taking back control from this chaotic government. Senior ministers are being lined up to make the case for it.
"The attorney general put on a good show, but the House did not want TV drama. MPs expect the publication of the full legal Brexit advice before the debates on the withdrawal deal begin. Further details have still to be announced, but Mrs May will kick off proceedings, with another defence of her deal.
"The government must not be allowed to use this chaotic situation to take focus away from the mess they are making of Brexit." She will tell MPs: "The British people want us to get on with a deal that honours the referendum and allows us to come together again as a country, whichever way we voted."
During a stormy debate in the Commons. Labour claimed Mr Cox was "hiding" his full legal advice "for fear of the political consequences". Mrs May will argue her Brexit deal delivers on her commitments to end free movement and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
Mr Cox told MPs to "get real and grow up" - and his legal advice had no bearing on the political reality of the Brexit deal. It will leave Britain "as a globally trading nation, in charge of our own destiny and seizing the opportunities of trade with some of the fastest-growing and most dynamic economies across the world", she will add.
He conceded that the UK would be "indefinitely committed" to EU customs rules if Brexit trade talks broke down, under the terms of the withdrawal agreement hammered out in Brussels by Theresa May. Mrs May will say future trade talks with Brussels will also ultimately result in "a new free-trade area with no tariffs, fees, quantitative restrictions or rules of origin checks - an unprecedented economic relationship that no other major economy has".
But he said it would not be in either side's political interests to allow that to happen. Labour is threatening a vote of no confidence in the government as part of a move to trigger a general election, if Mrs May is defeated on 11 December.
He described the controversial Northern Irish backstop as a "calculated risk", adding that he did not think "we are likely to be entrapped in it permanently", as some Brexiteers have claimed. The party is in favour of Brexit but against Mrs May's deal, which it argues will harm industry and cost jobs. It wants to delay Brexit to negotiate a better deal with Brussels.
"We are indefinitely committed to it if it came into force. There is no point in my trying any more than the government trying to disguise that fact," he told MPs.
He said he would have preferred to see a clause inserted into the EU withdrawal agreement that allowed the UK to exit the backstop if negotiations "had irretrievably broken down".
But he added that he would back Mrs May's deal because it was "a sensible compromise".
What is the Northern Ireland backstop?
The Northern Ireland "backstop" is a last-resort plan designed to prevent a return to a visible border on the island of Ireland, with both the UK and the EU saying they want to avoid anything which puts the peace process at risk.
It would be triggered if no trade deal has been agreed with the EU that avoids the need for a hard border by the end of the 21-month transition period after 29 March's official departure date.
It would keep the whole of the UK tied to EU customs rules, unless the two sides come up with another way of avoiding border checks.
Under the EU withdrawal agreement, neither side can unilaterally withdraw from it - but it is meant to be temporary.